News

KGI: new MacBook Pros coming in 2017 with price cuts, 32GB RAM option

Cody Lee ∙ October 31, 2016

KGI Securities' Ming-Chi Kuo says he expects 2017 to be a solid year for Apple's MacBook Pro line. The reliable Apple analyst issued a note to investors on Monday, saying that he believes Apple will introduce price cuts for the MacBook Pro, as well as internal upgrades with support for up to 32GB of RAM.

The note comes less than a week after Apple introduced its all-new MacBook Pro with Touch Bar and Touch ID at a media event in Cupertino. The laptop has been met with a fair amount of criticism over its high price tag—the 13-inch model is up $500 over its predecessor—and lower-than-expected specs.

Apple said to be considering lowering Apple Music price

Cody Lee ∙ October 31, 2016

Apple is considering a price drop for its streaming music service, reports Digital Music News. The outlet cites multiple sources claiming that if implemented, the drop could be as much as 20%, lowering individual plans to $7.99 and the family plan to $12.99.

Report: Foxconn working on wireless charging system for iPhone 8

Cody Lee ∙ Updated October 17, 2018

Hon Hai Precision Industry is working on a wireless charging system for Apple, reports Nikkei. Citing an industry source familiar with the matter, the outlet claims the manufacturer, better known as Foxconn, is making wireless charging modules for the iPhone 8.

The source adds that the feature making it into Apple's next flagship handset will depend on whether Foxconn can boost the yield rate to a satisfactory level. So if it can't produce these modules at a high quality/volume, we may not see wireless charging next year.

Brief history of the Mac startup chime

Christian Zibreg ∙ October 31, 2016

The new MacBook Pro does away with the classic Mac startup sound that's been present on Macs for the past seventeen years, probably to avoid annoying users as the notebook automatically powers on when you open the lid. But rather than completely kill the chime, Apple's disabled it on the new MacBook Pro.

Thankfully, you can re-enable it with a simple Terminal command.

We think this could mark gradual phasing-out of the familiar Mac startup sound just as the one-port MacBook with USB-C has spelled doom for Apple's proprietary but love MagSafe connector. Here's a brief history of the Mac boot chime.

MacBook Pro’s lack of 32GB RAM option could also be blamed on Intel’s Skylake chips

Christian Zibreg ∙ October 31, 2016

As you know, Apple's limited the new MacBook Pro to a maximum of sixteen gigabytes of RAM. Truth be told, no Mac notebook thus far has permitted customers to double the system RAM to a whopping thirty-two gigabytes though many MacBook Pro fans seem to have expected just that as an option.

As we told you, Apple on its part did acknowledge that it'd decided against giving the new Pro 32GB RAM because doing so would have decreased the notebook's battery life.

The statement is true, but lacks detail.

The Loop's Dave Mark points us to a more technical explanation for why you cannot outfit your brand spanking new MacBook Pro with 32GB RAM.

New MacBook Pro doesn’t play classic startup chime when turned on

Christian Zibreg ∙ October 31, 2016

As spotlighted by French blog MacGeneration.fr based on Pingie's discovery, Apple's latest MacBook Pro no longer plays the classic F-sharp major chime when the computer has been powered on (you can bring it back with a simple Terminal command).

The iconic boot sound's been part of the Mac since 1999, but Apple's apparently decided to break with the tradition beginning with the new MacBook Pro, perhaps because it turns on automatically as soon as you open the lid.

New aerial footage shows major landscape changes as iSpaceship nears completion

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 30, 2018

YouTubers Duncan Sinfield and Matthew Roberts flew their drones above Apple Campus 2 like they do every month, bringing us breathtaking visual updates of construction progress at the iSpaceship site. Last month, we saw a bird's eye overview of the enormous ring-shaped building facade glowing at night and the month before landscaping work was beginning to show. Their latest footage reveals major landscape changes with large trees sprouting up everywhere around the new campus.

Jony Ive speaks on MacBook Pro’s Touch Bar, touchscreen Macs & more

Christian Zibreg ∙ October 31, 2016

Jony Ive, Apple's Chief Design Officer, sat for a Q&A with CNET's News Editor in Chief Connie Guglielmo following last week's “Hello again” Mac event. Ive talked about various topics, including design considerations behind the creation of the Touch Bar, a marquee new feature of the new notebook, saying it's “just the beginning of a very interesting direction”. He explained why Apple'd rejected a touchscreen iMac “many, many years ago” and more.

Sharp exec confirms iPhone 8 will have curved OLED screen & all-glass design

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated October 17, 2018

Sharp President Tai Jeng-wu—who is also a high-profile executive at Foxconn, Sharp's parent company and Apple's favorite contract manufacturer—said publicly that Apple's next iPhone will use a curved screen based on organic light-emitting diode (OLED) technology akin to that on Samsung's Galaxy S7 smartphone, Nikkei reported Saturday.

As you know, Apple currently uses OLED screens on the Apple Watch and the new MacBook Pro's Touch Bar. All iPhone, iPad and iPod touch devices to date have used traditional LCD screens.

1Password confirms that Touch ID support for the MacBook Pro’s Touch Bar is in the works

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated October 17, 2018

As we were watching a live-stream of yesterday's “Hello again” Mac event, our own Sébastien told the rest of the team via Slack that, in his mind, the 1Password + Touch ID + MacBook Pro combination would make a lot of sense. And indeed it would.

Less than 24 hours later, 1Password developer AgileBits has officially confirmed in a blog post that they're hard at work implementing support for Touch ID via the new MacBook Pro's Touch Bar to let users protect the app with their fingerprint.

Apple’s officially out of standalone display business

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated October 17, 2018

Nilay Patel, Editor-in-chief of The Verge, has confirmed with Apple that the company has officially exited the standalone display business, dashing any hope that we might see a standalone Apple-branded 5K Thunderbolt Display. If you own a Thunderbolt Display, don't hope for a Retina-enabled upgrade.

Responding to Jason Snell's notes on the new MacBook Pro over at Six Colors, Patel wrote on Twitter that “Apple told me it's out of standalone display biz.”

MacBook Pro didn’t double the RAM because 32GB RAM would decrease battery life

Christian Zibreg ∙ October 28, 2016

I've had a blast configuring the new MacBook Pro in Apple's online store and a lack of 32GB RAM upgrade option immediately jumped out at me. Thirteen-inch Pros include 8GB RAM while the faster and pricier fifteen-inch machines double that to to sixteen gigabytes.

According to Apple, the new MacBook Pro cannot be configured with 32 gigabytes of RAM because doubling the memory would have a negative impact on battery life.